Guns or mortars



Dec. 5, 19 D. VAN KONINGSVELD 3,011,407

GUNS OR MORTARS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 16, 1958 INVENTOR. Dudle vanknningsve'lcf BY Jj mm m- 1 vw-Z N mm N. W n H dgii ii m v Dec; 5, 1961 Filed July 16, 1958 D. VAN KONINGSVELD GUNS OR MORTARS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 3.

Inventar M-WQM Dec. 5, 1961 D. VAN KONINGSVYELD 3,01

GUNS ORMORTARS Filed July 16, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. 4.

FIG. 6.

Inve ntar 1 mil; m M

Dec. 5, 1961 D. VAN KONINGSVELD GUNS OR MORTARS 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed July 16, 1958 cm mm Inventor B 41/. mp1,) cw- QM Dec. 5, 1961 Filed July 16, 1958 D. VAN KONINGSVE'LD 3,011,407

GUNS OR MORTARS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Inventor nited States Patent Ofifice 3,011,407 Patented Dec. 5, 1961 3,011,407 GUNS R MORTARS Dudley van Koningsveld, Eufield, England, assignor to Minister of Supply in Her Majestys Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, London, England Filed July 16, 1958, 'Ser. No. 748,922 Claims priority, application Great Britain July 29, 1957 4 Claims. (Cl. 89-17) A gun or mortar according to the present invention comprises a barrel, a firing chamber adapted to receive a missile, for example a bomb and movable axially of the barrel and also out of alignment therewith and at its forward end adapted to seal against the rear end of the barrel, and an axially movable breech block to the rear of the firing chamber, which breech block is adapted to press the firing chamber into engagment with the barrel. Provision is preferably made for moving the firing chamber rearwardly away from the barrel when the breech block is moved rearwardly. In one construction according to the invention, the bore at the rear end of the firing chamber is provided with a portion of larger diameter than the projectile containing part of the bore of said chamber and of the bore of the barrel, to receive a close fitting propulsive cartridge a corresponding part of which cartridge is therefore also of such larger diameter.

The cylindrical Wall of the cartridge within the firing chamber, or the part thereof which is in said chamber, should be capable of expanding sufficiently under the pressure of the propulsive gases to form a gas-tight although sliding fit within this chamber.

If desired the cartridge and the part of the bore of the firing chamber into which it is to fit may be tapered, in which case that part of the cartridge casing which fits therein should also be capable of a degree of longitudinal as well as radial stretch. I

In the case of the weapon being mounted upon a spring and/ or other recoil system, provision may be made whereby the breech block will be opened automatically as the weapon is being restored from recoil.

The construction and arrangement may be such, that the firing chamber canbe swung into a position where it is out of parallel with the barrel axis for loading.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIGUREI is a part sectional view of a mortar according to the invention.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing more clearly a certain detail.

FIGURE 3 is a view showing a' modified detail in construction of a bomb for firing from the mortar.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary sectional view.

FIGURE 5 is a view showing another modification in the construction of the bomb.

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary sectional View.

FIGURE 7 is a part sectional view showing a further modified detail in the construction of the bomb.

In the construction of mortar shown in FIGURE 1 i of the drawings, there is provided a barrel 1 which during operation may be maintained in a fixed position, and a firing chamber 2 formed in a tubular body 3 at the rear end of the barrel to receive the bomb. The tubular body 3 is carried by trunnions 4, 4, pivoted in'a pair of blocks 5, 5, slidingly mounted upon tie-bars 6, 6, arranged parallel with and upon opposite sides of the axis of the weapon and carried at their forward ends in a block 7 carrying the inner end of the barrel, the said tie bars being at their rear ends connected together by a yoke member 8 which is held thereon by nuts 8.

x which forms, as-itwere', an inclined abutment or conical Disposed upon the yoke member 8 and co'axially with the barrel 1 is a breech block 9 having formed upon its rear face a shaft 10 which is journaled in a bearing 11 formed in the yoke member 8, so that both said shaft and breech block are capable of both rotary and axial movement. The breech block 9 is provided upon its rear face with cam surfaces 12 which co-operate with corresponding cam surfaces such as 13 to cause the breech block 9 to move axially when rotated by means of a radial handle 14, said cam surfaces 13 being formed upon a disc 15 bolted to said yoke member.

Surrounding the forward portion of each of the tiebars 6 is a helical spring 16 which is in partial compression between the block 5 carrying the respective trunnion 4 of the tubular body 3, in which is formed the firing chamber '2, and the block 7 carrying the barrel 1. Fixed upon each of the tie-bars 6 is a collar 17 which is so positioned that it limits rearward movement of the block 5 under the action of its associated spring 16 when the breech block is moved into its rearmost or open position.

The rear end of the bomb receiving and firing chamber 2 is outwardly flared to receive a correspondingly shaped metal cartridge 18 which, when the mortar is in the loaded condition, is situated immediately to the rear of the bomb, indicated by reference 19.

In the loaded condition the breech block 9 has been rotated to push against the base 20 of the propulsive cartridge, 18 and force the tubular body 3 in which is formed the bomb receiving and firing chamber 2 forward against the action of the springs 16 upon the tie-bars 6, 6, so that the forward end of said tubular body abuts firmly against and seals upon the rear end of the barrel.

When the propulsive charge is fired, a greater total thrust will be exerted by the base of the cartridge 18 upon the breech block than that exerted by the propulsive gases upon the bomb, this being due to the fact'that the rear part of the interior of the cartridge is of larger crosssect'ional area than thebomb containing part of the firing chamber 2 and of the barrel. I i 1 The cylindrical wall of the cartridge is made of suitable metal and of a suitable thickness to enable it to expand both axially and diametrically as and for the purpose hereinbefore described.

To remove the expended cartridge, the breech-block 9 is retracted by rotating it, thus permitting the springs 16 to actuate-the trunnion carrying blocks 5 to move the tubular body 3 away from the inner end of the barrel.

' The aforesaid collars 17 fixed to the tie-bars 6 limit the rearward movement of the tubular body 3 so that it will be retracted by the, springs 16 for a distance only sutlicient to permit it to be rotated upon its trunnions 4, out of alignment with the barrel 1 and the retracted breech block 9, irito a position, to enable the empty charge-case to be removed and a further bomb and propulsivecartridge to be inserted through the rear end of the chamber. After the bomb and propulsive chargelhave been placed in the chamber the latter is rotated, upon its trunnions, back lnto alignment'with therbarreland breech block, after which, the breech block is rotated to bring it into its forward'position to move the tubular body 3 against the action of the spring 16 into tight contact with the inner end of the'barrel and at the same'time firmly to abut the rear end of the propulsive cartridge.

bore'of the firingchamber is of slightly less diameter than the rear of this, and between these two portions of the bore there is formed a lead or short tapered portion,

ramp 21 against which abuts an obturating ring or seal I 22 of L-shaped cross-section held in'a groove 23 formed around the bomb. This obturating ring 22, in abutting against the conical ramp 21, also constitutes means for M Q preventing the bomb from being pushed too far along the chamber in loading, and so maintains a constant chamber value (i.e., between the ring and the rear wall of the propulsive cartridge). The obturator ring, which is, as previously stated, of L-shaped cross-section, is, as shown more clearly in FIG. 2, arranged so that its shorter limb enters the aforesaid groove 22, while its other limb is rearwardly directed and the rear portion thereof passes over a part 23 of the bomb, between which part 23 and the rear portion of said ring, an annular cavity 24 is formed so that the gas pressure behind the bomb will tend to expand the ring against the inner wall of the chamber. The ring is well radiused at the bend between the two limbs so that it can contract sufiiciently to pass with the bomb into the smaller bore part at the end of the chamber, and the entrant portion of the barrel is flared in such a manner as to facilitate the passage of the bomb from the chamber 2 into the barrel and at the same time to accommodate for any slight mis-alignment there might be between the chamber and the barrel. The obturator ring is preferably weakened by slitting its rearwardly extending limb, for example, so that when it flies olf the bomb upon leaving the barrel it will break into a number of comparatively small pieces thereby to minimise or prevent the possibility of injury to persons within the vicinity.

Instead of the bomb being provided with an obturator ring as just described, it may be provided upon its outside with a comparatively wide annular groove 25, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, containing a stop ring 26 made of spring steel and provided with a continuous corrugation or convexity which is sufficiently pronounced to abut the conical ramp portion of the bore of the chamber, this ring, however, being somewhat less in width than the width of the groove so that the corrugation or groove can resiliently collapse sufliciently to permit the bomb to travel forward and into and along the barrel under the action of the gas pressure.

If desired, the bomb may be provided with a second groove, to the rear of that just described, as shown in F165. and 6, which second groove may contain a similar stop ring 26. In some cases it may be desirable to use an obturator ring 22; in addition to one or more stop rings 26, as shown in FIG. 7, in which case it would, for example, be located rearwardly of the stop ring or rings, as the case may be, or alternatively between two stop rings.

The mortar or gun according to this invention may be mounted upon a spring or other suitable recoil absorbing system, in which case provision may be made whereby the restoring action of this will automatically open the breech block.

Instead of 'a firing chamber being mounted on trunnions which are disposed on an axis disposed transversely of the weapon, as hereinbefore described, one or more firing chambers may be employed, for example, formed in a barrel rotatable about an axis parallel to the axis of the barrel.

The particular arrangement and simplicity of the construction of the weapon just described also renders it particularly suitable for use as a test-rig.

it will be understood that in many applications of the invention the propulsive cartridge may be attached tothe rear of the projectile for loading into the firing chamber, as in the case of a shell for example.

I claim:

l. A missile projector comprising in combination, .a -tunular barrel, a block fixed to the rearward end of said barrel, a pair of spaced parallel tie rods fixed to and extending rearwardly from said block, a transverse yoke fixed to the rearward ends of said tie rods, a tubular. firing chamber disposed between said-rods andadapted to. be rotated into and out of axial alignment with said barrel, said chamber flaring at its rearward end to receive a cartridge therein, apair of trunnion blocks siidably mounted,

one each, on said rods, a pair of collars fixed, one each, on said rods and forwardly of said trunnion blocks, a pair of diametrically disposed trunnions fixed on said firing chamber and rotatably received in said trunnion blocks, a coil spring encircling each said rod and biasing between each said trunnion block and said block on said barrel, said firing chamber having a longitudinal bore defining a forward portion having a smaller diameter than its rearward portion to form a conical ramp for providing obturation means together with a missile when in said firing chamber, a disc fixed in said yoke and disposed axially of said barrel, said disc having inclined cam surfaces in its forward face and a breech block having inclined cam surfaces on its rearward face cooperating with said cam surfaces on said disc, said breech block being mounted for rotation whereby said breech biock may be moved axially with respect to said firing chamber whereby said chamber is moved into close contact with the rearward end of said barrel.

2. A missile projector comprising, a barrel, a pair of guide rods, said rods being spaced in parallel relation on each side of the longitudinal axis of said projector, said rods being connected at their forward ends to the rearward end of said barrel, a transverse yoke fixed to the rearward ends of said rods, a block slidably mounted on each of said rods, means urging each said block rearwardly on said rods, a tubular firing chamber for containing a projectile therein, said chamber being disposed between said rods and in axial alignment with said barrel, a pair of trunnions journaled in said blocks, whereby said firing chamber is movable axially from, and rotatable out of axial alignment with, said barrel for loading, a breech block mounted for rotational and axial movement in said yoke, and axially disposed cam elements carried by said yoke member and said breech block for moving said breech block toward said firing chamber, when said breech block is rotated, whereby said breech block will abut the base of a cartridge in saidfiring chamber and hold it against axial movement therein and move said firing chamber forwardly to abut the rearward end of said barrel.

3. A missile projector as claimed in claim 2 wherein said means urging each said block rearwardly on said guide rods comprises 'a helical spring on each said guide rod and biasing said block rearwardly to move said firing chamber rearwardly from said barrel when said breech block is opened.

4. A missile projector comprising, a barrel, a separate, tubular firing chamber disposed rearwardly of said barrel, said chamberhaving a forward projectile receiving portion for receiving a projectile, carrying an obturating ring thereon, for firing in said chamber, and a rearward, outward flaring cartridge receiving portion, said projectile receiving portion having a conical ramp Within its forward portion to act as a stop for the aforesaid obturating ring carried by a projectile when in said projectile receiving portion and limit the forward movement of the aforesaid projectile beyond a firing position in said projectile receiving portion, a gmide means carried by the rearward end of said barrel for supporting said firing chamber in axial alignment with said barrel, said guide means permitting rotational and axial movement of said firing chamber in close contact with the rearward end of 1,217,959

said barrel. I 2,845,007

References (Zited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 815,222

1,036,171 Ackerman Aug. 20, 1912 591,398

6 Klaput Mar. 6, '1917 OBrien July 29, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS France Apr. 5, 1937 Great Britain Aug. 18, 1947 

